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AMERICAN VALUE: EQUALITY Yet, in 1787, "People" really only meant "Free
Persons," and "Free Persons" meant white men. African
Americans who were enslaved were deemed "other Persons,"
which, after much debate, the authors of the Constitution ultimately
deemed "three-fifths" of a Free Person as a means to
bolster Southern representation in Congress. And, at the time, white
women were considered the property of their husbands and certainly
unfit for public duty. Amendments XIII, XIV and XV
(abolishing slavery and guaranteeing African Americans equal
protections under the law, ratified after the Civil War; the
Amendments' promise wasn't enforced, however, until the passage of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965),
Amendment XIX (granting women the right to vote, ratified as a
result of the suffrage
movement) and Amendment XXIV (abolishing poll taxes that
had been used to keep African Americans from voting, ratified as a
result of the Civil
Rights Movement). Make
a tree map with the heading Declarations.
List the characteristics of our declaration, Sought
Africa’s, Mexico’s, and The United Nations’.
Circle the commonalities.
Underline key differences.
We the
people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. ——— We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. We, the
people of South Africa, Recognize
the injustices of our past; Honor those
who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; Respect
those who have worked to build and develop our country; and Believe
that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our
diversity. We
therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this
Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to
May God
protect our people. Of
Individual Guarantees Article 1 -
In the United Mexican States, every individual will enjoy the
guarantees that this Constitution grants, which shall not be
restricted or suspended except in the cases and with the conditions
under which the same is established. Slavery is
prohibited in the United Mexican States. Foreign slaves who enter
national territory by any means will obtain their liberty and the
protection of the laws. All
discrimination motivated by ethnic or national origin, gender, age,
differing abilities, social conditions, health conditions, religion,
opinions, preferences, marital status, or anything else that may be
against human dignity and have as its object to restrict or reduce
the rights and liberties of persons, remains prohibited. Whereas recognition of
the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice
and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and
contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have
outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in
which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and
freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest
aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is
essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last
resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human
rights should be protected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential
to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of
the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined
to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger
freedom, Whereas Member States
have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United
Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of
human rights and fundamental freedoms, Whereas a common
understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest
importance for the full realization of this pledge, Now,
Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard
of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that
every individual and every organ of society, keeping this
Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and
education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their
universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the
peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of
territories under their jurisdiction. |
